. coming up on "early today," in the quiet dark of night, the body of supreme court justice antonin scalia returns to virginia, but the political reaction has been anything but quiet. as the presidential candidates weigh in on the next justice, they're also tearing one another apart. >> they lied. >> just been telling lies. >> why do you lie? >> liar, liar, liar. millions endured record cold temperatures over the valentine's weekend, but more storms are in store for the week ahead. plus, is kanye west $53 million in personal debt? a monster weekend at the box office for the latest superhero. and what happens when you giving a sea lion a selfie stick? "early today" starts right now. good morning. the stakes are high after the death of supreme court justice

antonin scalia in a war of words over who should nominate his replacement has already reached the point of a justice scalia dissent, this as justice scalia's body arrived back with his family in virginia late last night. president obama says he will nominate a new justice, although, so far there is no timetable for an announcement. and the president's republican colleagues don't think it should be his to make at all. here's the bottom line. i don't trust barack obama on the appointment of supreme court justices. >> it's called delay, delay, delay. >> i believe the president should not move forward, and i think that we ought to let the next president of the united states should decide. >> and i'm very glad that the senate is agreeing with what i called for, that we should not allow a lame duck president to essentially capture the supreme court in the waning months of his presidency. >> those opinions have been met with harsh words on the other side of the aisle by hillary clinton. >> it is outrageous that republicans in the senate and on the campaign trail have already

pledged to block any replacement that president obama nominates. there are 340 days until the next president takes office, so that is plenty of time. >> nbc's tracie potts joins us now from washington to help us sort it all out. good morning to you, tracie. good morning. the key here thunderstorm -- is the balance of the court. replacing scalia means they could be looking at a tilt of the court with several cases still undecided. we are already seeing possible candidates mentioned to replace

justice scalia. >> we don't have to confirm him and we won't. >> the court is in the middle of its term with more cases to hear and decide without conservative scalia key cases could end on a tie. >> we will see unlimited abortion on demand throughout this country. >> we need a conservative person. >> reporter: democrats insist the country should not have to wait for nearly a year. >> we have a president. he was elected. he has the right to nominate another supreme court justice. >> i don't this can the public will look timely on republican actions to try to thwart what he is supposed to be able to do. >> there is an ad out from ted cruz heading in south carolina where he argues that donald trump if elected should not be

allowed to select the next supreme court justice. he says trump's record is too liberal. >> thanks for that update. well, there are only five days left to the south carolina republican primaries, and the field is down to just six candidates, but saturday night's debate was the most venomous to date, and there were plenty of fights in both english and spanish. nbc new's gabe gutierrez has more. >> reporter: after a moment of silence for justice scalia came the most contentious gop debate so far. >> they lied. >> he's just been telling lies. >> liar, liar, liar. >> reporter: the word "liar" or some variation were used at least 22 times, 13 of those by front-runner donald trump, and yet -- >> i didn't call anybody a liar. i said maybe -- >> well, you called ted cruz a liar. >> reporter: -- trump slammed by jeb bush over foreign policy and how to fight isis in syria. >> it is absolutely ludicrous to suggest that russia could be a positive partner in this. >> jeb is so wrong. >> while donald trump was building a reality tv show, my brother was building a security apparatus to keep us save.

>> the world trade center came down during his brother's reign, remember that. >> don't go after my mother. >> hold on. >> let me finish. >> reporter: marco rubio, trying to rebound after his last debate, came to bush's defense, today blaming 9/11 on bill clinton's decision not to take out osama bin laden. >> that's what allowed al qaeda to grow and continue to prosper and by 2001 to have the capability to strike america. >> reporter: but the florida senator clashed with ted cruz over immigration. at one point cruz took issue with something rubio had said in a spanish language interview. >> first of all, i don't know how he knows what i said on univision because he doesn't speak spanish. and, second of all, the other point that i would make -- [ speaking spanish ] >> reporter: cruz also pounced on trump for what he called the billionaire's past liberal positions. >> you're the single biggest liar. you're probably worse than jeb bush. you are the single biggest liar. >> donald has this weird pattern. when you point to his own record, he screams liar, liar, liar. >> reporter: striking a different tone, john kasich.

>> i've got to tell you. this is just crazy, huh? this is just nuts. geez, oh, man. >> that was nbc's gabe gutierrez reporting. a blast of bitter cold arctic air is bringing record low temperatures to the northeast for a second straight day. meanwhile a winter storm that's been causing a travel mess for midwesterners is headed east. nbc's dan schenamen has more. >> reporter: it was a snowy valentine's day in indiana. whether it was the cause of a huge pile-up that shut down a major stretch of highway near indianapolis, at least ten people were taken to hospitals with injuries. >> we know that a squall came through here and visibility was almost zero, and it just turned -- it just turned icy very quickly. it is what it is. we deal with it. but in 32 years, this is probably one of the worst crashes that i've ever seen. >> reporter: it was the coldest valentine's day on record in the northeast, and frigid temperatures caused problems for firefighters in new jersey. in new york, the icy air almost scared off a tourist from london. >> we got off the plane

yesterday, and i nearly ran back into the airport. i've never known cold like that ever. >> reporter: there is good news. forecasters predict a warmup later in the week. dan schenamen, nbc news. nbc meteorologist rafael miranda has more on the extremes in the east and the west. good morning. >> the cold is finally backing off on the east coast and now we have another storm moving in. let's deal with the west where we have had heat. jet stream to the north and that means temperatures more spring. you can see san diego in the 80s back down to mid 70s by wednesday. phoenix near 90 degrees by wednesday. 86 in las vegas enjoying nice pool weather there. temperatures 70s to 80s. seattle not too bad. temperatures in the 50s. this is our winter storm out

east. watch out for significant travel delays. we are dealing with snow, ice and rain. sunshine in phoenix. 87 los angeles today. watch out for a few showers in the northwest. for tomorrow it continues. 88 in phoenix. 75 in san francisco. a few spotty showers in seattle and that snow turns to rain. temperatures in the 50s. possib temperatures in the 50s. north bend 63 degrees under mostly cloudy skies. really a tale of two or three seasons all at the same time. >> from the east coast definitely bundle up. pope francis visited one of the poorest cities in mexico city. he preached his message of equality and hope to more than

300,000 attending mass. adding there shouldn't be a need to mourn those destroyed at the hands of the dealers of death. nbc's anne thompson has more. >> reporter: pope francis went to the city notorious for poverty and crime. francis rode through the graffiti covered streets given a makeover by criminals more appropriate for the occasion, the pope portrayed in all kinds of ways, even as a graffiti artist. it has one of the highest murder and disappearance rates in mexico. it's such a dangerous place this woman tells me today's mass is one of the rare times she can bring her children to a public event. more than 300,000 people filled the dusty fields to hear the pope warn of the temptations of wealth, vanity, and pride, emphatically telling them there can be no dialogue with the devil. your evil can fear like a daily reality.

francis is asking these people, many of them poor and powerless to join the front lines of making mexico a land of opportunity. for a moment one of its most dangerous cities was a better place. anne thompson, nbc news, mexico. 48 people had to be rescued from a frigid new england ski slope after their tram cars got stuck 40 feet above the ground. look at this. rescuers actually had to use rope to help the stranded skiers propel through a hatch in the bottom of the car to the ground about 40 feet from the mountain. they were helped down the mountain. thankfully nobody was injured. they say a breaking sis is to blame and it could take a few days to fix the problem. marvel's latest movie

has shattered box office ratings. "dead pool" earn $135 million. that is twice what analysts expected. "dead pool" had been the biggest opening ever for an r rated film. also for the biggest february weekend and biggest president's four-day weekend. meanwhile how to be single debuted in third. while ben stiller's much hyped "zoolander 2" took in a disappointed $16.7 million. an accusation of a woman choking by spitzer this weekend. and get ready for a triple threat with three separate covers. you're watching "early today." (baseball on tv in background) with heart failure, danger is always on the rise. symptoms worsen because your heart isn't pumping well. (water filling room)

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choking a woman at the la plaza in new york city. law enforcement officials have been saying the woman reportedly cut her wrists after being choked and was taken to the hospital after calling 911. upon leaving the hospital the woman parentally then boarded a plane back to russia. no charges have been filed. a spokesperson for spitzer has told nbc news there is no truth to the allegation. police are investigating. an explosive device was found attached to the bottom of an avis rent a car in albuquerque, new mexico yesterday. >> a mechanic looked up and saw a device on the vehicle. that's what the investigator is looking at right now, where that car came from and who dropped it off. washington state police believe they captured the beardo bandit after surveillance

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this morning on "today," the new report series step in or step off. it's a series of social experiments to see how people would respond in an ethical dilemma. today's focus, shoplifting. now to sports. the five-time lakers champion enjoying every minute with the best of the best. a fan favorite and kobe finished with ten points on the night. and check this out. 290 points combined for all of his all-star appearances as he waves good-bye and thanks to the fans. the rest of the game was a scoring fest for the rest of the fans including tubs of alley-oops, three-pointers and those that hit the stratosphere. 196-173. nba resumes play on thursday.

next, the beautiful golf courses and pebble beach pro-am. phil mickelson started but missed a five-foot birdie putt that would have thrust him up against taylor. taylor finished 17 under par to mickelson's 16 under. now to nascar's biggest event of the year, the daytona 500 will have 20-year-old chase elliott racing from the poll. he's the son of two-time winner bill elliott and the youngest driver to land a top spot. the race is sunday at 1:00 p.m. just ahead, who will be the big winners at tonight's grammy awards. we'll tell you our predictions. plus, get excited. game of throne fans. we'll have a sneak peak for this upcoming season. up next. i've got this. mom!

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now to some entertainment news. excitement is growing for tonight's grammy awards and predictions that kendrick lamar will be taking home serious hardware. the rapper leads the pack with 11 nominations. taylor swift and the weekend are also big contenders. they both have seven nominations a piece. at last night's awards steven fry brought home a little

valentine's day honoring the tradition of the kiss cam. they played to the stars of maggie smith and leonardo dicaprio. they were caught with that camera. he also won big by taking home best actor for a role in the revenant. >> everyone is mine. >> that is the latest tease from the sixth season of game of thrones. it's set in black and white of those who died. shots are fuelling speculation of whose death is next. this month nbc will air a special that features the reunion of the cast of "friends. here to comment is rachel from friends. >> oh, my god. this is incredible. it's so a great to see you. >> oh, colin, oh, hi, hi, wow, yeah.

yeah. >> rachel, i've got to say i haven't seen you since the '90s. yeah, yeah, i've been good. i've been good, yeah. >> good. >> that's a pretty spot on impersonation. >> she nailed it. >> are you excited about the "game of thrones" season premiere? >> i haven't waited watching it yet. i wait until it is all out and i will binge watch it. this is "early today."

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leading the news on nbcnews.com, a missile mistakenly sent to cuba in 2014 has been returned to the u.s. they mistakenly sent it to them in a nato training exercise. though it did not contain explosives, u.s. officials were concerned cuba would share the technology. from "e! news," kanye west $53 million in debt. the rapper posted a surprising tweet and also mentioned mark zuckerberg. he surprised fans when he posted on twitter, i write this to you, my brothers, while still $53 million in personal debt, followed by mark zuckerberg invests $1 billion into kanye west's ideas. zuckerberg has not responded. in "the guardian," "a long lunch." a spanish civil servant skips work for years without anyone

noticing. a spanish court fined worker joaquin garcia $30,000 this week for collectitng a salary for a job he hadn't shown up for in at least six years. garcia was discovered when his employer tried to award him with a long service medal. australian authorities have announced they seized over $890 million worth of liquid methamphetamine in the country's largest drug bust in two years. four chinese men used gels and art supplies in their attempt to smuggle it in. chinese artist ai weiwei is gaining attention after making the exterior of a berlin concert hall his canvas. in his art installation highlighting refugees, he used over 14,000 lifejackets to symbolize those who drowned in an attempt to reach european shores. 15,000 chilean participants were in the war of the tomato. the event modeled after one in spain was sponsored by local

tomato harvesters who provided juicy ammunition. the art of taking a selfie is no longer just for humans. now sea lions are joining in on the fun. milo the sea lion gave visitors a front row seat to the underwater world after trainer mounted a camera on the end of a gopro pole. the video selfie was posted online thursday and has since been going viral. >> very cute. >> looks like fun. you give an animal a selfie stick you are bound to get something that exciting. now it's time to look ahead. president obama will meet with leaders from the association of southeast asian nations in california. they'll discuss security, trade, and climate change. analysts say the meeting comes as the u.s. steps up efforts. thanks for watching "early

today." have a great monday everyone. a doctors without borders

hospital targeted in syria. the country activists say are behind the airstrike. sam/vo and it'sne of san fncisco's most scenic places. that's now been tued overnto a crime scene. what investigators have learned about a double- homicide on twin peaks. laura/vo plus, shockwes continueo washington d-c, following the dt justice antonin scalia. the president's comments this morning--- about nominating another justice. today in the bay starts right now. =laura/2shot= good morng and th. joining us. i'm laura garcia cannon. =sam/2shot= and i'm sam brock. . . . very good monday morning to you. i'm laura garcia cannon. >> i'm sam brock. hope you had a nice holiday weekend. we turn it over to meteorologist, kari hall.